Abstract
Drawing on institutional analysis of politics, this paper proposes a concept of policy system that is then applied empirically to Taiwan's industrial context of 1986-95. Contemporary political sciences now identify the institutionalization of state-business relations. Accounts differ, but generally they retain a strong sense of conventional rules in the formulation and implementation of industry policy. While taking this idea of rules seriously, we extend institutional perspectives on politics from the familiar confines of structural constraints to the institutional context of resources. Thus, a policy system is socially constructed with a variety of rules and resources, appreciable in the Taiwanese context. © 1999 by John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Ltd.